Electric railway.



No. 809,120. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906- C. LBVINSON. ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18. 1905.

1mm ""lI i-l In v mum-null lllllll!!! UNITED STATES CHARLES LEVINSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

Application filed July 18, 1905. erial No. 270,273-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be 1t known that I, CHARLES LEVINSON, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to safety devices for electrically-operated cars or trains, and has for its object to provide a system in which the car or train of cars cannot be'moved by the motorman until every gate of the car or train of cars has been closed, thereby preventing the starting of a car ortrain of cars while passengers are being taken on or getting off the train.

I am aware'that there are certain devices which have been employed for signaling the engineer on trains whenever a gate on the train is open, but in these devices the engineer can of course disregard the signal and the train can be started with the gate or gates open, as the gates in these devices do not in any way control the movement of the car or train. My invention difiers from these devices very materially, inasmuch as the move- 'ment of the car or train of cars is absolutely dependent upon the closing of the gates on the car or train of cars, and while I have also provided a signaling means to signal the motorman whenever the gate or gates on the train are open the motorman, however, is

powerless to start the car or train of cars until the gates have been closed. Another material difierence between my invention and those devices just mentioned is that in case of emergency the current can be cut off in order to stop the carv or train of cars by simply throwing open one of the gates on any one of the cars, which will have the efiect to cut off the current and instantly signal the motorman, so that all brakes can be applied to stop the train. It is obvious that it is sometimes necessary to bring the train to asudden stop, and whenever'a train is made up of several cars or coaches the exigency or necessity of stopping the train suddenly may arise in one of the cars and may not be known to the motorman in front of the train. Usually the motorman is signaled to stop the train by means of a bell-cord or other signaling means operated by the conductor, and after the motorman is signaled to stop he must first cut ofi the current and then apply the brakes, which of course takes an appreciable length of time. In my system, however, in cases of emergency the current can be suddenly cut off by the conductor without taking time to signal the motorman, while the cutting off of the current also signals the motorman, who has then only to apply the brakes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a system for electrically-operated trains wherein a brake in the train will have the effect of suddenly cutting off the current in order to bring the train to a stop. I am aware that the air-brake system provides for throwing on the brakes whenever a break in the train-pipe occurs, but I am not aware of any devices which are so arranged that the power moving the train is cut off when a greak in the train occurs.

My invention, therefore, consists in providing a system for electrically-operated trains so arranged that the train cannot be started while any of the gates of the train are open by causing a break in the driving-motor cirgate of acar, illustrating a simple means which could be employed for causing the gate to close the electric circuit, the gate being illustrated in a closed position. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the gate in an open position and illustrating a break in the electric circuit.

Like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several figures, in which 1 and 2 indicate the cars forming the train, which is preferably composed of a motor-car 1 and a trailer 2 or series of trailers, 3 the gates, and 4 that portion of the car to which the gates are secured.

5 indicates the line, which, as shown in Fig. 1, passes to a switch 6, which is of the twopoint type, so that the cars may run either on the line-circuit or a battery-circuit, the batteries being illustrated by the numeral 7. The current passes from the switch 6 to the point 8, (also shown in Figs. 2 and 3,) and 9 indicates a spring contact or switch which is arranged, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, directly behind the car-gate.

10 indicates a pilot or signal lamp arranged in the circuit, as shown in Fig. 1. The wire passes from the contact or switch 9 to the point 11 behind the rear gate of the car. A similar spring contact or switch 9 is employed, through which the current passes to the point 12, where the circuit is wired to the point 13 on the neXt succeeding car, which is also provided with a spring contact or switch 9, as shown, the neXt car being also provided with a pilot or signal lamp 10 and each of the cars being wired, as just described. At the end of the train a plug 14 is provided, the current returning on the opposite side of the train, the cars of which are provided with the spring contacts or switches 9, associated with each gate, as before described, and as shown in Fig. 1. At the front of the train a plug 14 is provided, so that the car may be coupled up to another car or cars.

15 indicates a solenoid-switch.

16 indicates the current-controller, which regulates the main current-supply to the driving-motors, and 17 indicates the main switch which opens and closes main line through the action of the solenoid 15.

Having thus described the several parts of my invention, its operation is as follows: When the train comes to a stop at a station to take on or put off passengers, the gates are of course thrown open. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the gates are provided with a cam 18, properly insulated, and as the said gates are open the spring-contact 9 is open, as shown in Fig. 3, which causes a break in the circuit, and this break in the circuit is brought to the attention of the motorman by means of the pilot or signal lamp 10, which may be arranged in any convenient position. As long as the gates remain open the circuit is broken and the motorman is powerless to start the train. As soon as all of the gates have been closed the motorman is signaled, by means of the pilot or signal lamp 10, to start the train; but 1f for any reason it be desired to instantly cut off the current from the driving-motors when the train is in motion it is simply necessary to throw any one of the gates on the train into position shown in Fig. 3, which has the efiect of cutting off the current and signaling the motorman by means of the pilot or signal lamp 10, and, as is obvious,

should a break occur in the train by one of or more of the cars becoming uncoupled the circuit would instantly be broken and the driving-motor stopped.

While I have illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 a very simple construction for closing and breaking the circuit by means of the cargates, it is of course obvious that many other arrangements could be employed which would bring about precisely the same results, and I therefore wish it to be understood that the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is one of many which have suggested themselves to me; but for the purpose of making my invention clear to those skilled in the art I have only illustrated one construction, which is probably as simple as any.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction set forth, as various slight changes may be made therein which would fall within the limit and scope of my invention, and I consider myself clearly entitled to all such changes and modifications.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. A safety device for preventing the starting of a car comprising a contact or switch located in the driving motor circuit independent of the motormans controller and associated with a gate of the car, said contact or switch being so arranged as to be opened and to cut off the current from the drivingmotor independent of the motormans controller when said gate is open, substantially as described.

2. A safety device for preventing the starting of a train of cars which consists in locating a plurality of-contacts or switches in the driving-motor circuit in every car of the train, said contacts or switches being independent of the motormans controller and associated with the gates on the cars, said contacts or switches being so arranged as to be opened and to cut off the current from the driving-motor independent of the motormans controller when any of said gates are opened, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES LEVINSON.

Witnesses HENRI STRAUSS, LEON S. SENIOR. 

